Favourite plantings from The Chelsea Flower Show, 2016

To round off this year’s Chelsea Flower Show, I thought I’d share a few final ‘happy snaps’ of plantings that brought a particularly big smile to my face, as I dreamily wandered around the Royal Hospital grounds.

Yano Tea and Chihori Shibayama’s ‘East meets West’ Chelsea 2016 show garden. I enjoyed the slightly ‘meatier’ textures in this garden and like their thoughtful use of variegated foliage.

RHS ‘Greening Grey Britain’ by Ann-Marie Powell. I love the contrast of the sunny orange with the purples and lilacs, which helps avoid an overly ‘sickly’ feel.

Diarmuid Gavin’s ‘The Harrods British Eccentric Garden’, Chelsea 2016. The fun of the twirling trees is perhaps not something you’d want at home but the abundant flowers of every colour I could very happily live with.

The Akzonobel Honeysuckle Blue(s) Garden by Claudy Jongstra and Stefan Jaspers, Chelsea 2016. I’ve visited a couple of edible community gardens since I’ve been in London and I do feel inspired by how beautiful some ‘utility’ gardens can be, even with centre stage stinging nettles!

The Hartley Botanic Garden by Catherine McDonald, Chelsea 2016. I just can’t get enough of native English hedgerows at the moment.

David Harper’s Best in Show Trade Stand, Chelsea 2016. Quite an artist’s garden – an amazing combination of plants – although do you think a little pop of something random would add even more?

And another from David Harper’s beautiful display. The silvers providing cohesion across the stand and the natural greens with a splash of brown resulting in a very calming effect.

Sir Simon Milton Foundation Garden: ‘Urban Connections’ by Lee Bestall, Chelsea 2016. This mix of plants was growing in narrow planters. Predominantly drought tolerant species, I found this very inspiring as it would be so easy to do, even in the smallest window box. I feel there’s so much more we could do with Agapanthus, particularly the smaller ones.

New Covent Garden Flower Market by Ming Veevers Carter at Chelsea 2016. I’m not usually into the ‘carpet bedding’ effect, but this ‘New Design Award’ -winning exhibit, made up of 10,000 flower stems to celebrate the Queen’s 90th birthday, was absolutely spectacular.

Finally, the featured image at the top of the page was my favourite Nursery Stand in the Great Pavilion, by Daisy Roots. I do hope you’ve found something to inspire you at Chelsea this year.

I do like orange. I have quite a lot in my garden. We’ve had this conversation before in your blog post Orange in the Garden: Vibrant or Cheap. However, none of the photos I have seen of late showing orange tones has overly excited me. But the first of your David Harper photos I find stunning; calming, beautiful, ethereal. May I have it just as it is please?
I have really enjoyed reading the Chelsea posts; the analysis of the designs/plants/compositions. I’ve had to constantly reassess my likes and dislikes, thoughts and opinions, all in such a short period of time. It’s given me a bit of a head spin! Perhaps that’s why I like David’s arrangement so much. 🙂

Yes, just as it is, in that case! It obvious drew my attention just as it was, as it was the first photo I posted on my Facebook page at the end of a very long and tiring press day. It was the one that attracted me without putting any thought into it.
I’m glad you’ve enjoyed Chelsea. It’s been great that there has been so much that is relevant for dry climate gardeners this year. Everyone seems to be calling it a ‘vintage’ year. Just hope that head stops spinning soon. I know exactly what you mean!

Thanks Janna, what a refreshing approach to focus more intimately on a few of the vignettes that stood out for you rather a broader view of the whole landscape for your final Chelsea post for 2016. Most enjoyable.

Thank you, I’m so glad you enjoyed them. Sometimes it’s nice to just switch off and enjoy things for what they are, without over-analysing. It’s probably easier for us all to relate smaller vignettes to our own gardens too, when you’re not distracted by a broader view which is, invariably, entirely different to our own spaces. It all feels a bit more do-able!

This is a post I meant to write myself, so we’ll done for doing it so well and saving me the trouble! Lovely to look back on an excellent Chelsea. Hopefully Hampton Court will be just as pleasing. Looking forward to your posts on that event.

Glad you enjoyed it! I missed two or three the first time around but went through my list and eventually found them. You were probably more diligent than me on the plant stands though! It’s virtually impossible to cover everything in a day.

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I'm based in Chelsea, London and primarily work across zones 1 and 2. However, I do love to step out into the countryside from time to time. I've worked with gardeners in a number of countries so if you think you might like to work with me, wherever you are, just give me a call or drop me an email.

About

In 2007, I resigned from my corporate job at Heathrow to follow my husband’s career abroad. I engaged in a distance learning course with the Royal Horticultural Society and have never looked back. Now back in London, I hope to bring flavours of my adventures to my design ideas, from the clay tropics to the sandy desert. My passion for gardens knows no bounds and I hope I can inspire you to develop your love of gardening too.